Too Close To Touch
by CaLee
Summary: chap.6 now up.BOOTHBONES Booth and Bones work to solve a murder before time runs out for the dead girl's sister. Bones gets herself into trouble and there are more twists and turns than you can shake a phalange at. R&R Rated M for future chapters.
1. Time Stands Still

_Author's note: I do not own Bones or the characters. Enough said._

Too Close To Touch

Chap.1 Time Stands Still

The darkness swallowed her up like a black pool of ink. She felt herself sinking into the depths of the abyss as she slipped farther away from the edge. Where was she? She couldn't think straight. There was something she needed to do. But what was it?

"Temperance!" A voice called into the darkness.

Dr. Brennan tried to turn towards the voice, but she couldn't seem to remember how to work her body.

"Temperance!" The voice was now a shout.

Temperance knew the voice calling to her, but she couldn't find him. _Where is he?_ She fought to bring herself to the surface of the dark pool drowning her.

"Temperance! Answer me! Bones!" The voice was now a desperate scream. She had never heard such emotion in his voice before. It was almost like he was reaching the edge of insanity.

"Booth…" Brennan's mouth formed the word, but only a slight whimper slid from her lips.

"Come on, Bones. Stay with me." Booth stroked her hair as he sat on the barn floor cradling her head in his lap. Blood stained hay mixed with dust and dirt from the old farm lay strewn, evidence of the struggle that had taken place only minutes ago.

"Please open your eyes, Temperance. Please…" Seeley rocked back and forth on the floor like a child trying his best to hold onto the last bit of his sanity. He gently removed a piece of hay from dark hair.

Tempe fought to open her eyes, but all she could see was the darkness. _Cold, I'm so cold. If I could just break the surface._ Her lungs were starting to burn.

Booth touched her cheek. "You have to fight, Bones. Open your eyes. Open your eyes!" His voice cracked. "Temperance…" Booth was now sobbing her name.

Through the muddy water, Brennan felt the warmth of his touch. It started on her left cheek and slowly spilled over her body. The waters seemed to part as the darkness of the abyss shattered around her. And suddenly she was looking up into Booth's eyes and her world came crashing down. The depth of emotions she saw swimming in his dark eyes threatened to drown her once more.

"Temperance!" The anguish in his voice matched his darkening eyes and the impact hit Tempe full in the chest. She fought to breathe as she reached out to touch him.

"No! Don't try to move. I called for back-up and help is on the way. Just stay with me."

Booth stroked her hair once more, trying to smile but his lips only trembled.

Anguish, fear, sadness, helplessness and desperation flickered across Seeley's face as he held her in his arms. She watched as one emotion dissipated in his eyes, only to be replaced by another.

Dr. Brennan shifted her eyes away from Booth's face and focused on his white button-up shirt. It was a dark crimson smear that had caught her attention. The blood soaked stain seemed to grow before her eyes. Booth was covered in blood, but he wasn't bleeding. The shock of realization knocked what little breath she had managed to take in from her lungs. And for the first time since opening her eyes, Dr. Temperance Brennan realized the pressure she was feeling in her chest wasn't from the panache of being swallowed into the darkness. No, the pressure was coming from Booth's hand pressing down on the open wound in her chest as he fought to keep her from bleeding to death before help could arrive.

"Booth.." Tempe's eyes raced from his face to his hand applying pressure on her chest.

"I know, Bones, but please hold on. Help is coming." _Where the HELL is the damn ambulance? She's going to bleed to death in my arms!_ Booth caught the faint sound of a siren on the wind and touched Bone's cheek. And while he waited for the help Bone's so desperately needed to arrive, Seeley watched Temperance take a ragged breath as she looked into his eyes, cutting him to his very soul. And time seemed to stand still.


	2. Brains, Brawns and Bible Verses

_Authors note: Once again, Don't own 'em, only write about 'em. Enough said._

_Note to readers: Thanks for the encouragement. I need all I can get! I DO read them all and I take into account all you have to say, good AND bad._

**Too Close To Touch**

chap.2

Brains, Brawns and Bible Verses

_**5 days earlier**_

Dr. Temperance Brennan climbed from the cab of the black SUV and took in her surroundings. The sun was high in the sky and its heat radiated down like a pressure cooker. The trees were still and the only sound audible was the crunching of Seeley Booth's shoes as he crossed the dirt road to stand next to her.

"It's been cleared, 'course it doesn't look like anyone's been around for days." Booth paused to remove his sunglasses. Glancing around he noted the absence of neighboring houses. "Kind of quiet around here."

Brennan started towards the abandoned house. "Where's the body?"

Booth quickly followed. "It's in the basement. Just follow your nose, you can't miss it."

Tempe stepped inside the old house noting the rotting floor.

"Watch your step, Bones. The floor is kind on the bare side." Booth side-stepped a hole in the floor and took Brennan's elbow to help guide her through the rest of the house.

When they reached the entrance to the basement the pungent stench of death hit them full in the face. Tempe was used to the smell of death and hardly seemed to notice.

"The stairs are safe, I tested them myself." Booth reached for the flashlight he had tucked into his belt before leaving the SUV and switched it on. The ray of light stretched out into the darkness of the basement below.

"Ladies first." Booth smiled and held out his hand as if to usher her along.

Bones took the steps cautiously while she scanned the room for the body. It struck her how much cooler it was down in the basement compared to the waves of heat they had encountered outside. Though the odor of death was much stronger now, it would've been much worse had the body been left to rot in the summer sun.

"It's over there in the middle of the room. Someone handcuffed it to an old post." Booth swung the beam of light towards the middle of the room and it landed on the rotting corpse.

Bones shook her head. "_IT_ is a female, late teens to early 20's. Approximately 5'6", slight build, thin."

Booth jotted his partner's ramblings down in his hand book and took a step backwards. "Man, it smells like she's been her for weeks!" He pressed the side of his palm to his nose, trying to stifle the odor wafting its way to his nose. "Geez."

"Try breathing through your mouth." Tempe leaned further down to get a better look at the girl's body. The lack of light was making it difficult to see.

"Why? So I can _taste_ it too?" Booth cringed at mere thought of what rotting flesh might taste like.

"It'll help." Tempe reached out and pulled a small object from the girl's hair. "What's this look like to you?" She asked, holding up the pink fiber for Seeley to inspect.

Booth leaned down and shown the flashlight on the small feather-like object in Brennan's hand. "Looks like a pink feather to me."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

"Like from one of those Boas the girls are all wearing these days. Kinky."

Tempe looked confused. "A _Boa_? As in a snake? A pink snake with feathers?"

"Come on, Bones. Don't tell me you've never seen those long feather wraps ladies love to wear around their necks?" Booth moved the flashlight to shine on his partner. "You'd look good in one."

"No, I haven't heard of them and I don't care to own one, thank you." The look of discern on her face caught Booth off guard.

_Whoa, Booth. Too much, back off. I can't believe I said that._ "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. It just looks like a pink Boa feather to me."

"I need to get her back to the lab. I need to run tests and have Angela reconstruct her face for a profile. I can't tell much more for now, the light is terrible." Bones looked at Booth and sighed.

"What?"

"She's so young. How'd she get here? I didn't see a car or any tracks even. The dirt should've revealed some clue as to how she got here."

"Well, it rained two days ago. That probably ruined any chance of getting any viable tracks if there _were_ any. We'll have to work with what we've got. And what we've got is very little." Booth started back up the stairs. "You coming?"

Bones was just about to turn and follow Booth up the stairs when something caught her eye. _What is that?_ Bones squinted at the girl's right hand. "Booth, bring that flashlight back over here please."

Booth stopped mid-step and sighed. "Bones, come on. You can play with your corpse back at the lab with the rest of the Squints. This place gives me the creeps."

"Don't call us that. You know, if it wasn't for us, you'd be up a creek without a boat. Now bring me the flashlight." Tempe was getting frustrated.

"It's up a creek without a _paddle_. And what are you looking at?" Booth shown the light on the girl's body once more.

"Her hands. I think there's something lodged in her right hand. Booth, give me the light." Tempe pulled a pair of latex gloves from her pocket and put them on before taking the flashlight from Booth.

"Yeah, what is that? Paper?" Seeley tilted his head as if he were trying to get a better look.

"It looks like it." Gently pulling the wadded up ball of paper from the girl's fingers, Bones looked at it in the light. "It's definitely a piece of paper. And there's something on it. It looks like a page from a book of some kind." She slowly unwrapped the paper ball.

"Here, hold the light for me." Handing the flashlight back to Booth, Brennan did her best to smooth out the wrinkles on the page.

Booth's eyes scanned the paper quickly. _ I am your GOD. No others shall come before me. Do not take my name lightly. _ Recognition rattled Booth's brain. "It's a page from Exodus. The Ten Commandments."

Dr. Brennan recognized the words as well. And though she herself didn't believe in the religion, she knew Booth did. "Yes. It would seem the killer had a point to make. And they used the Bible to illustrate that detail. Look." She held the page up for Booth to get a better look. "One of the Ten Commandments is highlighted."

Booth focused on the bright yellow streak highlighting the fifth commandment. "Honor thy Mother and thy Father. Hum… Could our girl here have been some what of a rebellious teen?"

"I don't know. That's more of your job isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. You're the brains, I'm the brawns. But I'd say someone wants us to know this girl was _not_ a girl scout."

"Let's get her back to lab. We'll know more once I can get a better look at her."

Booth straightened and smiled. "Right, time for me to flex my brawns."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

_Jeffersonian Medico-lab_

"Did we get any prints off the handcuffs?" Dr. Temperance Brennan walked up the short steps to the lab to find out what, if anything, her team had found out about their Jane Doe.

"Nope. Clean, not even a partial. Sorry, Brennan." Angela gave her friend a half smile. "But we did hear that you guys found a page from the Bible on her."

"What?" Tempe looked bewildered at one face then at the others.

"Now murderers are using the Bible as a calling card. Nice." Hodgins shook his head in mock disgust.

"Yeah who would've thought that GOD's word would be used in a murder?" Zack turned back to his work on the body lying on the table.

"Who told you guys we found the page?" Tempe asked with a frown.

"I told them. Thought the more the Squints knew the better." Seeley Booth strode up the steps to join them.

"The only time we have to squint is when we're forced to look for your smaller than average I.Q. on a piece of paper." Hodgins didn't care for Booth most of the time. In fact, the only one who fought with Booth more was Temperance Brennan.

"Easy, there Doc." Booth held up his hands in surrender. " Just saying I thought you guys should know everything we've got so far."

"Zack, I need you to start taking care of the rest of the flesh on the skull. I need Angela to get us a face for our Jane as soon as she can."

"Right away Dr. Brennan." Zack hurried off to do his bosses bidding. Always so eager to please her, and to learn all he could.

"Booth, did you get anything from the missing person's files?" Tempe turned to look at her partner.

Seeley shook his head. "I got a few. 23 matches to her age and height. I guess we'll have to wait for Ang to come up with her face."

"Alright. I'll start running tests." Tempe pulled on a fresh pair of latex gloves and started going over the body.

"You guys have fun. I'm going for some food." Booth started towards the steps.

"Food? I thought you couldn't eat after seeing stuff like this?" Tempe swept her hand over the girl's decomposing body.

Booth stopped and gave her a handsome smile. "Bones, you can't expect me to go all day without eating." He removed his sunglasses from his suit jacket's inside pocket. "I've gatta' keep up my Brawns." And with that, Seeley Booth strode down the stairs and out the lab's doors into the summer sun.


	3. What Really Matters

_A/N: Once again, I don't own 'em, I only write about 'em. Enough said._

**Too Close To Touch**

chap.3

**What Really Matters**

_Medico-Legal Lab_

"That is so cool." Hodgins studied the bacteria he had collected under the microscope.

"How is it you can connect with your ameba pals day after day, and yet, you can't seem to drag yourself to any type of a function were Homo Sapiens converse?" Angela stood at the edge of the table where Jack was working. "It wouldn't kill you to interact with your own species once in a while you know."

Hodgins looked up from his study and sighed. "O.K., _first_ of all, it's a bacterium, not an ameba. And second, conversing with my own _species_, as you say, has NOT always been the most congenial of things on my list of things to do."

"Well, maybe, if you tried a little harder to have some fun…" Angela smiled.

"Yeah. And maybe the government will stop spying on citizens and put the money we pay them to good use, like trying to cure world hunger." Hodgins turned back to his microscope.

"Play nice kiddies." Seeley Booth swiped his I.D. card through the card reader at the security station and climbed the lab steps to joint them. "Hey Angela. You got a face for us yet?" Booth stopped to lean against the lab table where their victim's body still lay.

"Don't lean against the table, Booth. Brennan will have your hide." Angela warned as she glanced towards Tempe's office. "She hates it when you do that."

"I hate it when Booth does what?" Temperance walked around the corner to find her associates waiting for her.

Booth snuck a glance at Ang and gave her a quick shake of his head, mentally begging her not to spill the beans.

"You hate it when he shows up late." Angela smiled at her friend and continued. "That's why I told him to hurry up, so we could go over the girl's facial reconstruction."

"Right, Ang called and said you guys were ready for me, so I ran all the red lights to get here." Booth started towards the stairs. "Let's get going. The sooner we get an I.D. on our girl, the sooner we can wrap up this investigation." He took Brennan's arm and steered her along.

"You ran red lights? Booth, you shouldn't do that. You could cause an accident." Tempe let Seeley nudge her towards the stairs.

"It's O.K. I used my lights."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"O.K. So I put in all the calculations we got from the victim's skull and all 23 of the missing person's you gave us, Booth. Hopefully we get a match." Angela sat at her computer and entered the final key strokes. "O.K. Let's see what we got."

The holographic machine flashed and the image of the young girl's skeleton appeared, floating on air. Spinning before their eyes, the image changed as more pronounced features appeared to overlap the girl's skull. The computer ran through several of the missing girl's facial structures searching for the correct markers to match to the skull they had. Finally the holographic image flashed one last time and stopped, completing the facial structures with one of the files from a missing woman with delicate features.

"And the winner is..?" Booth studied the floating woman for a second and then looked to Brennan for the name of their body.

Tempe scanned the computer file flashing on Angela's screen. "Serafina Harris. Born September 18, 1982 in Washington, D.C. Missing since July 14, 2005. Fits the timeline. Zack and I figured she'd been dead about 12 days."

"Serafina Harris." Booth stared at the young woman's face. The holograph flickered.

"Who did this to you?"

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"The official cause of death is asphyxiation." Dr. Brennan placed the file on her desk as she sat across from Booth.

"She was strangled?" Booth asked, picking up the file and flipping through it. "But you didn't find anything telling us what was _used_ to strangle her." He stopped to look at Tempe.

"Strangled, smothered, one of the two. It looks like the killer used a rag of some sort with chloroform to knock her out. Maybe the same rag was used to smother her to death. She fought back for a while. We found broken carpals and her ulna was fractured. Most likely from struggling against the handcuffs." Tempe leaned back in her chair.

"Well, I pulled the file on Serafina Harris and it says she has a twin sister, but the last known address doesn't check out. The girl's parents went missing a few years back and the girls stayed with their Aunt, Linda Collins." Booth caught the look on her face when he mentioned the missing parents.

"Bones, are you going to be O.K. working on this case with me? I know it must be hard.."

"Why?" Bones gave the FBI agent a stern look. "Just because my parents went missing when I was a kid, doesn't mean I'd ever let it get in the way of my work on any investigation. I'm perfectly capable of discerning between a case and my own life, Booth." She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

"Whoa, Bones. Calm down. It's O.K. I was just concerned for you, that's all. I didn't know, I mean, you know…If you wanted to talk about it, you can talk to me, Bones." Booth sat forward and placed his hand on top of Tempe's.

Bones took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. She was biting his head off and she hadn't meant to. _Why can't I keep my mind in check when it comes to these things?_ She WAS capable of keeping her own life out of her work. And she knew Booth was only showing concern for his partner when he knew how much losing her parents at such an early age had hurt her.

Looking down at the hand covering her own now shaking extremity, Tempe smiled at Booth. "Thanks. I know you mean well, and I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm fine now. I can do this, Booth. I need to finish this case. We have to find the truth. My personal life won't affect my professional life." Taking back her hand, Bones closed the case file.

"No one ever said you were unprofessional, Bones. You are anything but. Now, how about a bite to eat? Take your mind off things?" Booth stood and straightened his jacket before placing his sunglasses on his face.

"I'm really not that hungry. I should get back to work on the victim." Tempe stood and picked up her lab coat.

"Ah, come on, Bones. The rest of the Squint Squad can handle that. Let's get some fresh air. You've been sniffing too much of this old stale air in here." Booth ushered Bones towards the door while taking her lab coat from her hands. "We'll be back soon so you can hover over your lab rats."

"They're not lab rats, and the air in here isn't stale. We have the best filtering system in the world. Our work dictates the use of highly filtered air so as not to contaminate…"

"Uh-ha, O.K., Bones? I'm just trying to get you out of here for a while, so can you _please_ stop arguing and let's go?" Booth tossed the lab jacket over the chair and continued steering her towards the door.

"Booth! I really should.."

Booth sighed and placed his hands on his hips in frustration. "If you stop arguing and just come keep me company for a while, I promise to let you have a gun next time we go out into the field."

"Booth, I.." Tempe stopped short and looked at her partner with wide eyes. "Really? You're going to let me have a gun? But before you said that I _couldn't_ have one. What changed your mind?" Bones looked at him skeptically.

"Your nagging." Booth smiled handsomely and took Tempe by the arm once more. "Come on Bones, Serafina will still be here waiting for you when you get back."

Brennan let herself be led out the door. Maybe a bite to eat would make her feel better. Some normal conversation with Booth might be just what she needed to get her mind off her own life. But then again, when was any conversation she'd ever had with agent Seeley Booth normal?

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Dr. Temperance Brennan sat at her desk going over all the findings in the case file. Booth had dropped her off after dinner when she had insisted on going back to work on the case. He had promised to call her later that evening with more details. Now, here she sat alone thinking about what the young woman must have gone through during her last moments of life. Even though much of the world thought of Temperance Brennan as cold and disconnected, she was really the opposite. She cared about the victims she worked on. The families who lost a loved one. And though it may not seem like it, Bones felt a very real pain every time she looked into the eyes of a victim. She could almost feel the very afflictions they had gone through as if it were_ her_ being suffocated, stabbed, drown or strangled. She was not cold and heartless, and as much as she hated to admit it, it bothered her that others, including her coworkers _and_ Booth, saw her this way. She never used to care what others thought of her. What did it matter what others saw in her? She knew who she was, and who she wasn't. It was only as of late that Tempe had started to care what others thought of her and her character.

"Are you alright, sweetie?" Angela leaned against Brennan's desk with a look of concern for her best friend.

Tempe had been so absorbed in her own thoughts she hadn't heard Angela walk into her office. "Angela. Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about the case. I didn't hear you come in."

"Sweetie, you need to go home get some rest. This case has been hard on you. You've put in a lot of time here today. I know you love your work, but it's almost 11pm. Go home." Angela tilted her head to study her friend.

Tempe sighed and sat back in her chair. "_You're_ still here."

"That's only because I knew that if I left you by yourself, you'd never leave. Come on, Brennan. Let's go home." Angela grabbed her friend's coat and gently pushed it into her hands.

Tempe sighed running a hand through her hair and accepted Angela's subtle hints. "You're right. I can't do much more tonight. I need to get out and clear my head. Thanks Ang. I don't know what I'd do without you." She smiled wearily.

"You'd sit here all day and all night and never have any fun in your life." Angela ushered Brennan out of her office and turned off the lights. "Now go. Love you, sweetie."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Temperance had every intention of going home and crashing on her bed. She had actually been looking forward to a nice peaceful slumber. It was only when her cell phone had rang, pulling her wondering mind back into reality that she made the decision to put off the sleep that had been calling her.

It had been Seeley Booth's voice on the other end of the line and he was apologizing for not calling her sooner. He had some more information on their investigation and wanted to share it with her. She agreed to meet him at his place and go over the file together.

And now she found herself on Booth's doorstep, fixing her hair, waiting for him to answer her knock. When Booth finally answered the door, she smiled when he ran his hand through his spiked trestles. At least she wasn't the only one worried about the way their hair looked.

"Bones, that was quick." Booth opened the door wider and stepped to the side to let her in. "Sorry it's so late, I just got caught up at the office and before I knew it, it was almost 11:30." As he talked, he led her into the living room. "Have a seat, can I get you anything? You hungry?" He was finishing buttoning his shirt as he walked to the kitchen.

Tempe looked around the room and then settled on the couch. "No thanks, I'm fine." It was only the second time she had ever been in Booth's home. And it was at that moment that she wondered where Tessa was. Booth and Tessa had been dating for a while, but now that Tempe thought about it, she hadn't seen Tessa for a while. Booth hadn't really mentioned her recently either. She wasn't going to ask. It wasn't her place, and she told herself that she didn't care _who_ Booth was dating. In fact, she did care. She didn't know why, but she cared.

"I found out that it was Serafina's boyfriend, Jesse Young who filed the missing person's report. They both lived in California. I'm going to call Jesse tomorrow and let him know we found her. We'll fly him out to D.C. so we can question him about her disappearance." Booth sat next to Tempe on the couch. "Serafina. That's kind of unusual, isn't it?" Booth sat back and looked at Tempe.

"It means 'Burning' in Hebrew. In the Bible, Seraphim are the highest order of Angels." Brennan said matter-of-factly.

"Bones, how do you _know_ all this stuff? You have a brilliant mind, you just pick the oddest times to show it." Booth shook his head.

Tempe thought for a moment and then turned to Booth with a serious look on her face. "Do you think I'm cold and unfeeling?"

"What? Where is _this_ coming from, Bones? Who said you were cold?"

"Lots of people have made mention to the fact that they think I'm too cold. I don't see myself that way, but others do. Why?" She asked with a sadness he hadn't expected.

"Look, Bones… Temperance. You're not cold. You're smart. You're _too_ smart. Too smart to talk to people who use one syllable words all day, which, unfortunately makes up about 95 percent of the world's population. People don't understand you. It's like you said," Booth turned to face her. "You work best by distancing yourself from the victim." He touched her shoulder. "Come on, Temperance. It helps you focus. Don't worry about what other people say. I know I gave you a hard time during that last trial, but you know I only did what I thought I had to do to get you to connect with the jury. I said I was sorry and I really am. Please forgive me for being an idiot." Booth looked at her with pleading eyes.

Looking at her partner sitting beside her now, she knew he was right. And it somehow made her feel better knowing that Booth didn't think of her as cold. He knew who she really was. And in the end, that's all that really matters. Yes, Temperance Brennan may to some, seem heartless when talking about a victim, but her friends knew the real Temperance. The caring and sometimes too outspoken, Brennan.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

_A/N : Ok. So I had to get some of the boring stuff out of the way in this chapter, but next chapter is going to start getting good We're going to learn more about Serafina and her life as well as her sister. I was going to start putting some of that stuff in this chapter, but it would've been WAY too long. I'm already writing the next one, so I promise it'll be up in a day or so. Please R&R. I LIVE for your comments…lol._

_-Calee_


	4. Ex Marks the Spot

_A/N: Once again,(why do I feel like I'm repeating myself here…) I don't own 'em. I only write about 'em. Enough said._

_To my readers: Thanks for all the reviews with your ideas and encouragement. It's all greatly appreciated. Please feel free to let me know how you feel about a point, or chapter. All comments are welcome along with cookies, flames, applause and rantings. Thanks again for reading, and I PROMISE it's going to start getting good._

_-CaLee_

**Too Close To Touch**

chap.4

**Ex Marks The Spot**

_FBI Interrogation room 4_

Booth sat on the edge of the desk watching Jesse Young through the two-way mirror. The boy was tall and muscular with short brown hair and gave the impression of a 'Bad Boy' attitude. A tattoo on his left upper arm, barely visible under his white tee, revealed a rose with thorns. _A rose? At least it doesn't say 'Mommy'._ Booth watched as the young man checked his watch and drummed his fingers on the desk. Booth checked his own watch. _Where the hell is she?_ He felt the beginning of a headache coming on fueled by mild irritation. It wasn't like Bones to be late for anything. If she didn't walk through that door in five minutes, he was going to have to break the news to the kid himself that they had found his girlfriend dead the day before. Booth hated giving bad news to people. It was part of his job, but it was the part he loathed the most.

"Come on, Bones…I do NOT want to do this by myself." He checked his watch one last time before rising from his perch on the hard desk and trudging though the door and into the hall.

"Time to get this over with." Booth reached for the door knob to the interrogation room.

"Booth!" Tempe half walked, half ran towards him. By the time she reached Booth, she was clearly out of breath.

"Bones…"

"Sorry I'm late. I had to meet with my publicist and go over the next chapter of my new book. They won't stop calling me. And all these people keep asking for me to do interviews with them."

"That's great, Bones, but can we _please_ get this over with? You know I'm not exactly thrilled about breaking it to the guy that his girlfriend's dead and we have no idea who killed her."

Bones was only half listening as she was still mulling over the last call she had gotten that morning.

Seeley was not oblivious to the fact that his partner was not fully registering his words. He waved his hand in front of her face as if checking to see if she were really there. "Bones? Yeah, hi. Remember the case? We have to…"

Cutting him off, Temperance tilted her head to one side and asked, "Have you ever heard of Howard Stern?"

"We don't have time for..." The FBI agent stopped mid-sentence and gawked at her. "Wait. Did you just say Howard _Stern_? As in radio aficionado _Stern_?"

"Yeah, so you have heard of him? Is he reputable?"

Booth scrubbed a hand over his face. "Bones, can we finish this conversation later? The guy's been waiting in there for thirty minutes. We need to get back to the case."

"You're right. Sorry."

"Thank you." Booth opened the door muttering to himself. _Howard Stern…_He could only imagine Bones doing his show.

"Mr. Young, I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my associate Dr. Temperance Brennan."

"'Sup?" The young man nodded in Booth's direction before turning to watch Tempe take her seat across the table.

"So you're a Doc, hum?" Jesse asked with mild regards to Booth's presence.

"Yes. I'm a Forensic Anthropologist."

"And what does THAT mean, exactly?" Young sat back in his chair and looked her over.

"It means….she works with bones." Booth smiled answering for her. "Well, that's what she does in a nut shell."

"Cool. So why am I here? You guys said on the phone that you had some news? Did you find Sera? Is she in some kind of trouble?"

Booth studied the boy for a moment before continuing, trying to figure out the best way to approach the subject. "Mr. Young…"

"We found Serafina's body yesterday in an abandoned house just outside of D.C." Bones stated matter-of-factly.

"Bones…" Booth gave her an exasperated look before turning an apologetic eye on the young man now staring in shock "Jesse, I'm so sorry. It seems as though your girlfriend was killed and left in an old abandoned house just outside the city limits."

"Isn't that what I just said?"

Ignoring his partner, Booth continued. "We're using every available resource to track down her killer and bring them to justice."

Jesses eyes glazed over as he mentally absorbed the information Booth had just divulged to him. His face turned a pasty grey.

_Oh please don't puke on me kid. I'd never hear the end of it._ Booth got up from his seat and poured a glass of water from the pitcher sitting on the table before offering it to Young. "Mr. Young. We're extremely sorry for your loss, but we need to ask you a few questions, if you feel up to it."

Jesse accepted the water from the FBI agent but he did not drink from the glass. Instead, he turned to Tempe and asked, "What happened to her?"

It was a simple question, one that merited a simple answer. She had been suffocated, smothered with a rag. A simple question with a simple answer, but Temperance Brennan, being the complex scientist she was, had never in her life given anything less than a definitive answer.

Temperance sat forward in her chair and folded her hands in a professional manor. "Miss Harris was found by a woman walking her dog yesterday afternoon. Apparently the dog sensed the body and began pulling at the owners pants to follow him into the uninhabited house where they found the decomposing body of Serafina Harris." Turning to Booth, Bones added, "Did you know that dogs have over 200 million olfactory sensors in their nose alone? The human nose only contains roughly 5 million."

Jesse stared in bewilderment. "Is she for _real_?"

Booth pinched the bridge of his nose. The mild headache from this morning was quickly becoming a full blown migraine. "Oo-ho yeah, she's for real."

Bones trudged on with her explanation, showing no signs of slowing. "The police gathered what evidence there was, and that's when they called Agent Booth and myself. I couldn't tell much from the crime scene, but from the decomposition rate I'd estimate Miss Harris had been dead approximately 12 days prior to the discovery of her body. Once we removed the body and were able to get her to my lab, we began running tests and we determined the cause of death to be asphyxiation." Tempe stopped to take a breath.

"Does she come with English subtitles, because I can't understand a _word_ she's sayin'!" Young looked to Booth for help.

"She's saying Miss Harris was suffocated, with a rag." Booth sighed. Even _he_ was having problems interpreting what Bones was saying.

"Look, I just wanted to know what happened to Sera. I didn't need a play by play from Nancy Drew over here." Jesse nodded his head towards Tempe.

"I don't know what that means." Bones shook her head and looked to Booth.

"Nancy Drew? She's a heroine in mystery novels young girls love to read." Seeley smiled at her innocents. "Come on, Bones. Don't tell me you've never read a Nancy Drew book. Not even as a child?"

"No. I'm a Doctor, a scientist. I don't have time to read books like that."

"Yeah? Well you write books, don't you? Aren't you that new hot author everybody's been talking about? The crime-fighting, ass-kicking, scientist turned author, movie star wannabe?" The young man shot her a defiant stare.

"What are you talking about? I write science novels with real facts and tools we use every day to find real killers." Tempe looked shocked that anyone would view her books any other way.

"Yeah, O.K., whatever, lady. I just hope your books come with their own medical dictionary, or your readers might be in for a ride."

"Of course my books have a medical reference guide in the back. I'm very efficient."

"Can we get back to the case at hand?" Booth needed to put a stop to this before things got out of hand. Young and Tempe both nodded in silent agreement. "O.K. Thank you. Now, Mr. Young," Seeley turned his full attention back to Jesse. "When was the last time you saw Sera?"

He thought for a moment, " It was July 8th. She and I had had another fight. She had gotten a phone call from her ex-boyfriend and I told her I didn't want her talking to him anymore. The guy was always calling her, trying to get her to come back to D.C. He never gave up."

"Does this ex-boyfriend have a name?"

"Kevin Marcus. Dude's an ass. Used to hit her a lot."

Booth glanced at Bones. She was thinking the same thing he was, but she didn't need to say it. He could read her like a book.

"So what happened after the fight?" Booth asked while jotting down notes.

"I told her to tell the guy to back off, or I was going to do it for her. We were planning on getting married next year, though I hadn't saved up enough money to buy her the engagement ring she wanted yet, and I didn't want the guy bugging us anymore, you know?"

"And what did Sera say when you told her to end it?"

"She told me to mind my own business and she took off. She was mad, and when she's mad, she takes off. She's usually gone a day or so at the most."

Booth flipped through the case file on the desk, taking out a picture and placing in front of Jesse. "This is a picture of Serafina with her twin sister Raya. Did you know Sera had a sister?" Booth watched the boy's eyes for any hint of recognition.

Jesse looked at the photo the FBI agent had placed on the table in front of him. "Yeah. I knew about Raya. Sera really didn't talk about her much. They weren't real close, if you know what I mean."

"No, we don't know what you mean." Tempe spoke, reminding both Booth and Jesse that she was still in the room. "Twins, especially _Identical_ twins are usually very close. They share a bond from birth till death. There are documented cases where one twin will be injured and the other twin actually feels _physical_ pain. I find it hard to believe that these girls weren't close at some point in their lives."

"Look, all I know is that Raya and Sera were only close as kids. After their parents went missing, things between them just weren't the same anymore. Sera thought their parents had abandoned them, but Raya never believed that. She was sure something had happened to them. Raya never really forgave Sera for thinking that their parents could do that….just walk away from them. They were only 16." Jesse leaned back in his seat. "You can't imagine what that does to a person."

Booth shot a quick glance at his partner. She knew all too well what it was like to have her parents just vanish into thin air at an early age. Bones had only been a child herself when both of her parents went missing.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Young, I DO know what it's like. Both of my parents disappeared when I was 15." Temperance gazed at the picture of the two girls, holding each other tight, laughing. Reminiscence of a youth lost to tragedy. She hated to see it happen to anyone else. She knew well enough what a blow like losing one's parents and never knowing what happened to them, could do to a bond these once happy sisters shared.

"Oh." Jesse sat up and a sadness filled his eyes. "I'm truly sorry, Dr. Brennan. But then you must understand what they must have gone through, and how it must have affected the bond they once had as children."

"Yes. I can see that now. Even a twin's bond might not be able to withstand the testes of a tragedy such as this." Brennan nodded her head.

Booth cleared his throat. The tension in the room was getting a little too thick and he worried they were getting off track once more. "Jesse, can you tell us the last time Sera saw her sister, Raya?"

"The last time Sera and Raya were together was four years ago. Just before Sera moved out to California with me. Raya and Sera lived with their mother's sister Linda for two years after the disappearance of their mom and dad. She looked after them. When the girls turned 18, Raya stayed with her aunt and Sera and I moved out to California. I wanted to get Sera away from Kevin. He was always comin' around, messing with her head. She needed to make a clean break. California is about as far away from D.C. as you can get."

"I see." Booth didn't like the sounds of this ex-boyfriend. He made a mental note to check him out.

"So after Sera and I moved away, she and Raya never really spoke. Raya used to send Sera a birthday card, trying to keep in touch. But Sera never even opened them. She acted like she didn't want anything to do with her sister. That's why I thought it was a little odd when Sera called me the day we had our fight to tell me she was going back to D.C. to see Raya. Sera said that Raya had called her cell while she had been out walking around and that Raya wanted Sera to come back to D.C. for a visit. She had some kind of surprise to show her. I figured, Raya finally got the horse farm she had always talked about as a teen. It had been her dream to own horses."

"So you thought Raya wanted to show Sera her new farm? Is that what Sera thought as well?" Booth was starting to get a clearer picture of the circumstances leading to Sera's return to D.C.

"Sera thought it was something like that. And she hadn't seen Raya in a long time, so I guess she felt guilty in a way. She said she didn't know when she'd be back, but I trusted her, so I told her to have fun…" His voice cracked and for the first time since hearing the news of his girlfriend's death, Jesse Young broke down and cried.

Booth looked at Bones for help. He had been wondering if Jesse was just that unfeeling towards his girlfriend, but it reasoned that it had just taken a while for the news to really sink in that Sera was really gone and that she wasn't coming back. He didn't want to be insensitive, but he wasn't that good with comforting people, and he figured that was more of a woman's expertise.

"Mr. Young, please don't cry." Bones placed her hand on the boy's quivering hands and did her best to sooth his uncontrollable sobs. "I assure you, Serafina did not suffer. She just went to sleep. We found traces of the chemical Chloroform in her mouth. It's used to knock people out. She didn't feel a thing."

O.K., so Bones wasn't the epitome of tactfulness, Booth ran a hand through his hair. But at least her words were working. Jesse's sobs slowed and became more of a whimper, and soon, the tears had stopped all together.

Booth searched for a box of Kleenex while Young sipped from the water Booth had poured for him earlier. "Ah…" Seeley spotted the box with the white tissues in the corner and confiscated them. "Here you go." He handed the box to the young man and waited for him to regain his composure.

Jesse took several of the small tissues and dried his eyes and blew his nose. "Thanks. I'm sorry I went off on you guys like that. It's just that… I thought the worst of her." He sniffed and his eyes welled with tears, threatening to fall once more.

"The worst of her?" Booth thought he must have missed something.

"Yeah. When I hadn't heard from her for several days, I got to thinking. Maybe while she was out there, she hooked back up with Kevin. I was so mad when I pictured her back in that bustard's arms!" He slammed his fist onto the table top, rendering Booth speechless. "But then," Jesse's anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "I got to thinking. What if she hadn't gone to him like I had thought? What if it was _him_ who had gone to _her_? Maybe Kevin had found out some how that Sera was out there with her sister and he went to see her? What if he tried something? And what if she told him to back off like I had told her to. What if she would've told Kevin that we were getting married? He'd been pissed, man. And then all I could think about was him hurting her. I guess I was right." Jesse leaned back in his chair once more.

"You think Kevin had something to do with her murder?" Booth asked. It made sense, what Jesse was saying about Kevin. It might just have been jealously that had led to the death of Serafina Harris. Kevin Marcus was beginning to look like a great prime suspect.

Jesse thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah. I think there's a good chance. He wanted Sera back, and he was willing to do anything to get her."

"Can you think of anyone else who might want to harm Serafina?" Bones asked softly. She had the feeling that if she spoke too loudly, the young man might bawl all over again.

"No. Sera didn't have any enemies. She wasn't an angel by any means, but besides Kevin, I can't think of anyone who'd hurt her."

Booth nodded. "Well, we'd like to talk to Raya as well. See what she knows. She may be able to shed some more light on the case. Do you know where she is? The file is incomplete on her and we don't have a current address." Seeley needed to get a better handle on the relationship the girls had and he thought Raya might be able to tell them where to find Sera'a ex.

"Last I knew she was still living with her aunt, Linda. I don't know if she moved after we left for California. She may have got a new place, like I said earlier. Maybe a farm somewhere? But your best bet is to talk to Linda. She'd know where you can find Raya. Raya and her aunt were close."

"Okay, well Mr. Young, that's all we have for now. We appreciate your cooperation, and again, we're very sorry about your girlfriend. We'll let you know if we find anything else. Where are you staying, incase we need to speak with you again?" Booth wanted to be able to get a hold of Young if he needed to ask him any more questions concerning their investigation. And he didn't want to waist his time looking for the guy all over D.C.

"I'm at the Day's Inn on Hill Street next to the park. Room 226. I'll be there, unless I'm out for a bite to eat. I already left my cell number with the lady out front if you need it." He turned to walk out the door Booth had just opened when he stopped. "Look. I know I gave you a hard time, Doc, but you need to work on your people skills. A guy can't understand you when you speak 'Anthropoligian'. Just use one syllable words when you're talking to people with smaller I.Q.s, O.K.?"

Booth smiled when Bones tried to understand what he had meant by speaking 'Anthropoligian'.

"We can't all be crime-fighting bone doctors with an Emc2 kind of brain." He offered up a rare smile.

"Emc2?" Brennan knew Einstein's law, but the context was baffling to her.

"He's trying to say you're smart, Bones. You know, like Albert Einstein. It's a compliment, Bones. Say 'Thank you'." Booth grinned.

"Oh, well then thank you, I guess." Tempe was never good at accepting compliments.

"You're welcome. And thank _you_ for all the work you guys are doing on Sera's case. I know you'll have this solved soon so that we can lay her to rest." Jesse turned and walked out the door, leaving Booth to converse with Bones alone.

"My people skills are still inaccurate? I thought I was doing well. I mean, I DID try to comfort him when he was unnerved." Bones crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.

"Yeah, but you just blurted out that we found his girlfriend dead and then launched into all the explicit details with all the tactfulness of a college professor giving an exposé on exsanguinations to a bunch of squints with pocket protectors and taped glasses!" Booth had lost his temper and he knew it. He was practically yelling at her. Heads turned in their direction and yet he couldn't bring himself to lower his voice. "It's called tactfulness, Bones. And I didn't see you using anything of the tactful nature in there!" He jabbed a finger towards the interrogation room they had just spent the last hour in.

While most people would have been intimidated by a man of Booth's muscular stature, especially when that muscle was leaning rather aggressively into one's own personal space, Dr. Temperance Brennan didn't intimidate easily. Nor did she back down from a fight, even if there was a minimal chance she could win. She held her ground and made no indication she would even consider faltering, taking the opportunity to knock Booth off balance by stepping closer to the burly FBI agent when he had expected her to back away in silent defeat. Booth should have known better. "I'm sorry if I don't possess all the perceptiveness of the FBI, but I _do_ seem to exude the necessary mental reasoning skills your _FBI _squad can't seem to muster up to solve their own murders. A fact I find most fascinating, considering the word FBI is an acronym for the Federal Bureau of _Investigations." _Bones closed the gap between them even more by taking another step forward and tilting her head up as to go nose-to-nose with her partner. "One would _think_ they would be more proficient in solving _crimes_ on their OWN instead of enlisting the expertise of their local museum's head Forensic Anthropologist."

Her words dealt Booth a striking blow, physically knocking the agent off balance and he was forced to unwillingly yield to her as he took a step back. "There were a _lot_ of BIG words in there, Bones. One might find it hard to understand you when you use such _inordinate_ words." Booth tried and failed to regain his hold on the situation. He was flustered. And Seeley Booth did NOT like being flustered. Especially with his co-workers staring in his general direction.

Temperance's eyes flashed with anger. "Well, if you're incapable of rendering the meaning of my extensive vocabulary, perhaps you should request a _dictionary_ from Deputy Director Cullen to aid you in your endeavors!" Turning on her heel, Brennan stormed away, leaving Booth to shrink under scrutiny of his peers, who if you asked them, just witnessed a once in a life time ass kicking.

_A/N: OK, so I know this chapter was kind of long, but I feel we got some good information out of Jesse, didn't we? Next chapter already in the making. Bones is still mad at Booth and she might even kick his ass once again, figuratively speaking, of course. But I promise we're just getting to the good stuff. As always, cookies, flames, comments and applause are always welcome. It's the reviews of encouragement that keep me writing, so the more you encourage, the FASTER I write! Until next chapter, kiddies! _


	5. Sparks of Life

_A/N: Once again, I don't own 'em, I just write about 'em. Enough said._

_To my readers: Thanks you so much for your help and your encouragement. It keeps me going. I know it took me a while to write this chapter, and I appreciate your patients. I had to rewrite it several times. There were things I just had to start, i.e.-the attraction between Booth and Bones will really start to heat up a bit going into the next few chapters. It starts to play out a bit in this chapter as well. Just a fair warning: The story will be RATED M very soon, people! So don't forget to look in the correct place. Once again, we will be going **RATED M** very soon. Enjoy! -CaLee _

**Too Close to Touch**

chap. 5

**Sparks of Life**

_Medico-Legal Lab_

Agent Seeley Booth was never reluctant in his work. He prided himself on working hard and fully immersing himself in a case. He threw his whole being into solving an investigation and took satisfaction in knowing that one less dirt bag was left to troll the streets in search of another victim. And though the FBI agent rarely feared for his own safety, Booth, if he was being totally honest with himself, was at this very moment displaying the very characteristics of a chicken. Hell, he might as well be wearing a yellow shirt to match his yellow belly.

The clock on his dash had ticked off 17 minutes since he had pulled the black SUV into the Medico-Legal Lab's parking lot and still, here he sat. He knew she would've talked to Angela by now. He had no doubt what he was in for. The moment he stepped foot inside that building he'd be jumping in front of the firing squad. The longer he waited, the worse he knew it would be.

Booth leaned out the window of the SUV and gazed at the ever darkening sky. A slight wind blew across the agent's face causing him to frown as he caught the whisper of rain mingled with the sent of the city. Rain. He liked the rain. It always managed to wash everything clean again. It held the promise of a new beginning.

"Okay. Time to get this over with." Booth was finally ready to face his partner and to take the hits he knew were coming his way. He glanced towards the backseat where his bulletproof vest lay and gave silent thanks that he hadn't let Bones talk him into loaning her a weapon. "Dodged _that_ bullet." Booth smiled at his own joke as he slipped out from behind the wheel and headed towards the lab.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"So, we hear you got your ass handed to you." Hodgins smiled as he watched Agent Booth reluctantly climb the lab steps.

"On a silver platter." Angela couldn't help but grin.

Booth gave them both a sarcastic smile. "Yeah, well. She didn't come away without a few burses herself, or did the good doctor neglect to share that little detail?"

Zack rounded on the man before anyone could give a retort. "What did you do to Dr. Brennan?"

"What?" Had Booth missed something, or was the young protégé's normally flat-toned voice laced with a hint of distain? "Look, Zack….your boss is a BIG girl, now. She can take care of herself." Booth straightened his tie.

"No one's worried about Brennan taking care of herself. She kicked _your_ sorry FBI butt, didn't she?" Hodgins was having entirely too much fun for Booth's taste.

"First of all," Booth held up a finger and placed a hand on his hips. "Bones did _not_ kick my ass, we were merely having a slightly heated conversation pertaining to her abilities to verbally communicate with the outside world. I can't help it if Bones got a little defensive." Booth shrugged his toned shoulders and raised a brow.

"She ripped you a new hole."

Booth, Hodgins and Angela all turned to stare in shocked awe at the self proclaimed science geek now pretending to be completely absorbed in his microscope.

Booth glanced at Hodgins. "Did that just come out of _Zack's_ mouth?"

"Zack…" Angela stammered, her brain still trying to process the young man's short out-burst.

"Zack.." Hodgins was looking at his friend with renewed admiration. "_Excellent_ usage of the word, 'hole'."

Zack slowly lifted his eyes from the microscope to see his colleagues regarding him in a new light. A sense of accomplishment washed over him as a smile pulled at his lips. "I heard Angela say that once."

"Okay, well while the Squint Squad stands around congratulating each other on Junior, here's new-found vocabulary skills, I'm going to go do some, you know, _real_ work." Booth retreated down the corridor towards Bones' office, unable to admit to himself, or anybody _else_ for that matter, that he had just been blindsided by a Squint.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Booth had always thought people who described silence as 'deafening' were out of their minds. How could _silence _be _loud?_ But now, as he sat in the growing silence that was Brennan's office, Agent Seeley Booth could hear the unmistakable sound of a deafening roar that threatened to envelope his soul. It wasn't the _silence_ itself that was deafening. It was the thoughts running endlessly through his brain, his quickening pulse echoing in his ears, which when combined with the lack of sound, became a deafening roar. If left alone to wallow in one's own contemplations, the silence might be enough to kill you.

Booth shook his head, trying desperately to banish the images from earlier that day from his mind's eye. His brain seemed reluctant to comply. Over and over the image of an enraged Bones played across his cerebrum. The images never changed. Bones' eyes flashing with such heated anger, followed inevitably by her quick departure. He had handled himself badly. Pride had played an enormous role, not to mention his temper. He had never been able to control himself around the anthropologist. She irritated him to the point of irrationality. He couldn't resist sparring with the scientist.

Sighing heavily, Booth sat back, resting his head against the couch as he closed his eyes. When he had found Bones' office vacant, he had had every intention of inquiring about her whereabouts, but instead, Booth found himself seated on her couch, scrutinizing his earlier actions.

"Agent Booth. May I enquire as to the reason for such a weighted sigh?"

Booth's eyes snapped open at the sound of a deep African baritone voice belonging to the Lab Director, Dr. Daniel Goodman. He had been so engrossed in his own self pity; the man had snuck up on the FBI agent.

Sitting forward slightly on Bones' couch, Booth offered the man a slight smile. "Dr. Goodman. Just the man I was looking for."

Goodman grasped his hands tightly behind his back before tilting his head ever so slightly as to better study the agent. "Really? If it were me you were seeking, Agent Booth, I might have suggested searching for me in MY office instead of Dr. Brennan's."

"Yeah. That was my next stop."

"You are in need of our Dr. Brennan's expertise, I take it?" Goodman seated himself behind Bones' desk. "I believe Dr. Brennan has left."

Booth sighed and glanced at the Lab Director hopefully. "When do you expect her back?"

"I do not believe that Dr. Brennan intends to grace us with her presence again this evening." The man had a certain way of speaking. His extensive vocabulary left many feeling slightly inadequate. Goodman was never one to use 'ordinary' words, not when there were plenty of highly suitable three and four syllable words in the English language. It wasn't that he thought of himself as superior, or that he was above using one-syllable words. It just wasn't who he was. No, he would never be a 'one-syllable' word man. For all intensive purposes Dr. Daniel Goodman was a four-syllable word man, at least.

Booth sat on the edge of the couch. "What do you mean? She's not coming back?" How could she not be coming back? Bones NEVER left the lab when there was work to be done. Most of the time he had to _drag_ her into the field with him. And now she had gone home early? It just wasn't like her. Now he was really worried. Had their confrontation affected her as much as it had affected him?

"Yes. I believe Angela may be able to shed some more light on her whereabouts. It seems as though Dr. Brennan was quite perplexed when she returned from the field this afternoon. Any thoughts as to why she may have been so distraught?" There was a look in the doctor's eye that didn't set too well with the agent. It was as if there was something lurking just beneath the surface, something Goodman felt compelled to keep to himself, at least, for _now_.

Booth stood. "Yeah. I might have said some things earlier." And suddenly, out of nowhere, something inside him let go. "It's just that she irritates the HELL out of me! She has this way of pushing me to the very edge of my breaking point, you know? And it's _really_ starting to get a little annoying." Booth was pacing back and forth in front of the couch now. He was lost in thought and Goodman got the instinct impression the agent was rambling on to no one in particular.

"I just can't seem to control myself. It's like she…she…" He was at a loss for words. Instinctively, he looked to Goodman for help.

"She gets under your skin?" Goodman offered.

"YES!" Booth stopped pacing and faced the man before him. "And it's like she doesn't even know she's doing it! How can she not know what she does to me?" And in an instant, he knew he had said too much. It had slipped past his lips before he had even had time to register what it was he was feeling.

"And what about your actions towards her?"

Booth stared at the man. Had Goodman missed Booth's last comment, or was he just choosing to ignore it for now? "What are you getting at?"

"Your refusal to call her by her really name. This _pet_ name, as you call it, you have bestowed upon Dr. Brennan. 'Bones'. Could it be that it's not a pet name at all?"

Booth scrubbed a hand through his hair. _Oh boy. Here comes the psychology._

Goodman continued as he stood and proceeded to walk around to the front of the desk. "Could it be, that in giving Dr. Brennan a pet name, you're instinctively asserting your dominance over her? You're…_staking your claim_ on her, so to speak."

"What?" Had Goodman lost his mind? Booth staking a _claim_ on his own partner? "Look. It's just a pet name."

"Yes. But you insist upon using it instead of her real name even though she has time and time again requested that you cease its use. Your refusal to comply with her request may be construed as an attempt to, as I stated before, proclaim your superiority over her."

Booth was finding it difficult to think straight. Maybe Goodman was right. Maybe on some subconscious level, he _was_ trying to control Bones. Perhaps asserting himself over her was his way of trying desperately to even the scales a bit. She had a way of making him feel strangely inadequate, in more than one way. He had to talk to her. He had to clear the air or he'd never be able to concentrate on the investigation. And he needed to apologize to her if he ever expected her to help him in the field again. The fact was, Booth _needed_ Bones. It was just that, at this particular moment, his brain was incapable of even fathoming the increasing need looming in the distance. A need which would soon threaten to consume his very soul if he wasn't careful.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

On his way out, Booth had stopped to ask Angela where Bones had run off to. He needed to speak with her and he knew that if he waited until the following day, he might just change his mind and not apologize at all.

"She was kind of pissed at you, you know Booth. I don't think she's really in the mood for company, if you know what I mean."

"Look, Ang. I know I screwed up. I can't seem to help it." Angela sensed there was something more he wasn't saying.

"You can't seem to help screwing up?"

"No. I mean…ask Goodman. He seems to have me all figured out. That's more than I can say for myself. I don't know. Something about asserting my dominance over her…" He trailed off.

Angela smiled. "You mean using the name 'Bones' is a way of showing her you're above her in a way?"

Booth gave her a weary look. Even Ang had him figured for a dominating ass of a man.

"Booth. You're just being a typical male. Men seem to feel the need to go all macho on us when they feel their manhood is being questioned. Sometimes letting the woman be the dominate one for a change can be fun." She smiled. "Trust me."

The FBI agent found himself picturing Bones asserting herself in a dominate roll, not that it was a stretch. The woman could certainly hold her own in a fight, as she had proven on many occasions. Still, the picture was funny and he found himself laughing out loud.

"Yeah. You know what I mean." She turned her attention back to her sketch she had been working on when Booth had approached her.

"Yes, I do, and I've got to say I really can't picture it."

"Really? You can't honestly stand there and tell me that _you_ can't picture Brennan on top."

"Can you just tell me where to find her? Did she go home?" Booth couldn't believe where their conversation had taken them and he needed to put a halt to it before he crossed a line.

"She said she needed to go for a walk to clear her mind. She always walks in that park a block from her apartment. If she's not home, try there."

"Thanks, Ang." Booth turned to go.

"Just try not to put your foot in your mouth, O.K.?"

"You got it. And what I said before? About not being able to picture Bones on top? I just meant that it would never happen. I'm _always_ on top." He gave her a cocky grin.

"Then you don't know what you're missing."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Booth pulled the government issued SUV to a stop in front of Bones' apartment. Cutting the engine he quickly exited the vehicle and made his way up the building's steps. He hoped she was home. He wanted to get this over with. He climbed the flights of stairs, taking them two at a time. Once he reached her door, he knocked and prayed that she'd open the door. He listened for any movement inside the apartment that would tell him she was indeed home. Nothing.

"Bones? It's me. Are you in there?" Again he listened intently. "Bones?" No answer. Turing he made his descent and pushed through the doors leading outside. He checked the traffic before making his way across the street towards the small park just a block away. How was he going to find her? The park was small, but it had several paths leading in all directions. He'd just have to make a guess and hope for the best.

Booth strode down the walk picking up his pace. The rumble of distant thunder drew his attention skyward. The dark clouds threatened to pour any minute. "And me without my umbrella." Booth now jogged his way through the park entrance, searching for his partner's face among the crowd. "Come on Bones. Where are you?"

If he was right, she would've heard the rumbles of thunder and she'd be making her way back towards her place soon. So he'd just stay close to the park's exit and catch her on her way home. As Seeley stood there waiting, the thunder grew louder, a sign the impending storm was fast approaching. If she didn't hurry up, they were both going to be soaked to the bone.

Scanning the faces Booth caught sight of Bones making her way towards him. She showed no signs that she had seen him standing there. She quickened her steps as a gust of wind blew her hair into her face. "Bones!" Booth jogged over to join her.

"Booth!" She stopped, but only for an instant before continuing on her path towards the exit. "What do you want?"

"Bones. I need to talk to you." He kept pace with her, taking a moment to glance at the clouds once more. "We're going to get drenched."

Bones picked up her pace, trying to make it home before the clouds let go. The last thing she needed right now was to stand in the middle of the crowded park and argue with Booth while the storm raged around them. "What is it you want from me, Booth?"

"Bones…"

She whirled on him so fast it caught him off guard. "Stop calling me that! How many times must I tell you! Why do you have to insist on using that ridiculous name?" She was on the verge of tears.

"Whoa…clam down. I came to apologize for being an ass earlier." He faced her and gave her a gentle smile. "I'm sorry for the way I acted."

Brennan stood facing him intent on making him beg her for forgiveness, but a sudden blast of wind coupled with rain drops derailed her thoughts and she looked up in time to see a brilliant flash of light streak across the sky, a stark contrast to the black clouds rolling overhead.

"We better get out of here." Booth took her by the arm and they ran for it just as the clouds opened up and unleashed their wrath. Another flash of lightning lit up the sky followed by a crack of thunder loud enough to set off car alarms up and down the emptying street.

Bones jumped at the sudden sound and Booth had to bite his tongue not to laugh. She was cute when she was nervous. He would've told her so, except he was sure she would've pushed him into oncoming traffic.

Crossing the street, they made it to the apartment steps just as another loud crack of thunder shook the ground. "AAagghh!" Bones yelped and ran for the doors. Once inside she stopped to look at her partner now dripping water on the floor. He had a strange look in his eyes. She wasn't sure if it was the storm or the apology he had yet to finish that had him nerved up. She was willing to bet it was the latter of the two.

Bones turned and started up the steps towards her apartment. "Well, we better get dried off before we catch pneumonia. I hate being sick."

"Right." Booth followed her up the stairs. He was finding it rather difficult not to stare at her rear-end as they made their ascent. Why did she have to have such a nice rear? Booth shook his head mentally kicking himself for going there.

Bones unlocked her door and entered the small apartment. It was roomy, kind of cozy one might say. It wasn't much, but it was home to her.

Bones kicked off her shoes, leaving them to drip on the doormat. "I'll get us some towels. Stay on the rug." She ordered as she disappeared down the hall.

Booth shut the door and locked it. He waited patiently on the rug as she has asked, kicking off his shoes to join hers.

"Here you go." Brennan came around the corner and handed him a large green towel. He took it from her, noting the fact that she had removed her outer shirt she had been wearing only seconds ago, leaving her in a very skimpy tank top and her shorts. The sight of her working to towel-dry her hair was almost enough to short-circuit his already fraying brain. He had to turn away.

"What's the matter?" Bones asked reading into his sudden apprehension. "I'm sorry I don't have anything for you to change into. I know you must be miserable in those wet clothes." She nodded towards his slacks now clinging to his legs rather uncomfortably.

It wasn't just his rain soaked clothes making him uncomfortable. He needed to get home before he did or said something he might regret in the morning. "Bones…Temperance. I really am sorry I went off on you like that. I can be an ass at times." He busied himself with drying his hair, doing everything in his power not to look into her searching eyes. "You just….you bring something out in me, Bones. And I can't help myself. You have this….this…_unimaginable_ effect on…" He trialed off. On what? On HIM? HELL! On his BRAIN! Booth took a chance and turned to face her. She was searching his eyes, looking for the answer to the question she was asking.

"I have what effect..on…who..?" She stumbled over her words.

He watched as her eyes took on the color of the storm raging outside. How could she not know how she affected him? The power she held over him was enough to drive any man over the edge, and yet, she had no idea the images his mind was capable of conjuring up. Images his brain had been playing over and over again all afternoon. Images he would never have even _dreamt_ about having until his conversation with Angela. It was her fault, planting those thoughts of Bones on _top_. He was torturing himself by standing there in her apartment seeing her dripping wet. He found himself wondering which way the damn bedroom was! He had no right thinking these kinds of thoughts about his own partner. He could feel himself losing control over his body. He had to make a quick exit if he was going to retain his dignity.

"Look, Bones. I'm sorry I was such a jerk. Forgive me?" Booth did his best to look sullen. "I really need to get out of here. I'm dripping all over your floor and I need to get out of these clothes. I'll see you tomorrow? I made plans to talk with Linda, Sera's aunt. If you wouldn't mind coming with me?" He asked hopefully. "I'd really appreciate it."

Brennan could see the desperation in his eyes. He looked like a trapped animal, inching towards the door, looking for his one chance to make a brake for it. It suddenly struck her as she stood watching him squirm under her gaze. She was affecting him, much like the way he was affecting her. Since that afternoon outside the interrogation room, she had been plagued by a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. A feeling made worse by Angela's insistence that her and Booth's arguments were fueled by a -how did she put it- highly volatile chemistry they seemed to share. And if Angela was right and she usually was when it came to these types of things, if they didn't do something about it soon, their combative friction would likely spark an explosion that would threaten to consume them both.

_A/N: Okay. So now Booth and Bones are at least starting to get the big picture. The picture everyone ELSE seems to see when they look at the two of them together. More good stuff on the way. Don't forget, the M rating will be taking affect very soon. Once again, please feel free to comment. It's the REVIEWS that keep me writing. The more I get, the faster I write! Until next chapter kiddies! _


	6. Cold Showers and Sleepless Nights

_A/N: Once again, I don't own 'em, I only write about 'em. Enough said._

_To my readers: Okay, so I know you're ready for the M rating so please set back and enjoy. I'll try not to get too graphic for you…lol. To all of you who have encouraged me along with your comments, I thank you. Since there hasn't really been a quote 'romantic' scene on the show, I'm flying by instinct as to how they'd both act. Hopefully I've come close to what we, the fans, pray to see at some point on the show._

**Too Close to Touch**

chap. 6

**Cold Showers and Sleepless Nights**

_Booth's humble abode _

Booth leaned back against the cool tile praying its chill would help ease the tension in his aching muscles. The frigid water cascading down his body succeeded in temporarily numbing his fingers and toes; however it did nothing to squelch the heat he could feel rising from within.

Booth scrubbed a hand through his wet hair for what seemed like the hundredth time, as he replayed his last conversation with Bones. He had done his best to make a hasty exit when he felt himself losing control over his body. It had taken every ounce of strength in the man's very being to keep his body in check while in the presence of the half-naked anthropologist standing before him. The fact that she was dripping wet from the storm hadn't helped his situation any and the FBI agent found himself responding to his partner in a way in which still had him baffled.

It had been an act of pure desperation when he had offered up some great excuses as to why he had to leave, telling her he felt bad for dripping water all over her floor and his need to discard his rain soaked apparel, when in all honesty, it was his inability to keep his hands to himself, especially when she had looked him dead in the eyes, which inevitably had Seeley Booth bolting for the door.

So when Bones had finally agreed to accompany him to Linda Collins' house the following day, Booth had said his 'good-bye', retreating out the door and back into the safety of the hallway. He had only taken a few steps before collapsing against the wall in frustration and relief. Blowing out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, he had closed his eyes and give thanks for his ability to at least escape without too much embarrassment, though upon looking down and recognizing the slight stirrings of his body's desires, he wasn't sure how he could have accomplished such a feat. How could she have not noticed something like that? Was she _blind_? Not that he was bragging, but it wasn't exactly hard, no pun intended, to notice his protruding affliction.

Whatever the case, he had just been glad to be free from her gaze. And he needed to get back to his SUV before someone caught him in the hallway and called the cops to report the 'Peeping Tom' no doubt committing 'lewd and obscene' acts while spying on a neighbor down the hall. That's all he had needed at that moment, to be confused for a voyeur lurking in the halls. That would go over _real_ well over at HQ, not to mention the flack he'd catch from the Squints.

Walking as quickly as possible without drawing too much attention to himself, Booth had proceeded to take the steps back down to ground level where he had paused to take in the torrential rains now sweeping over the city. He remembered how the water streamed down the face of the glass as he stepped out from under the protection of the apartment's awning and into the street as he had made his way back to his vehicle.

A sudden crack of thunder brought Booth back to the present, a reminder of the storm still ravaging the streets outside. He shook his head banishing his thoughts for only an instant before slowly pushing away from the cold shower wall which had been keeping him steady. Turning to now face the showerhead, Booth reached out and dialed up the hot water and waited for the streaming liquid to turn temped.

Bracing his arms against the shower walls, Booth closed his eyes and lifted his head sending the warm water spraying over his upturned face. Flashes of lightning arched across the backs of his eyelids followed by the rumbles of thunder, giving Booth the instinct impression that this particular storm wasn't letting up any time soon.

And as the water swirled at his feet, Agent Seeley Booth sighed, "Ah, Bones…what are you doin' to me?"

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

_Bones' apartment_

Adjusting the temperature, Bones stepped under the spray of the showerhead, letting the relaxing droplets pulse over her skin. The heat of the water seeped into her body, washing away the tension in her muscles, though her mind still raced.

The conversation she had had with Booth earlier was still fresh in her mind. She had seen a side of him she had never known existed. He was flustered, anxious, and had suddenly developed the inability to look her in the eyes. At first, Brennan had assumed the man was just uptight about having to apologize for his rude and outlandish behavior towards her concerning her lack of conversational skills. However, as she watched Booth fidget, the anthropologist began to realize it wasn't the imminent apology which had her partner so agitated; it was _her_!

Temperance had had to remind herself to breathe. He had stood before her babbling on about what an ass he had been and how sorry he was, and yet, there was something he wasn't saying. Something she knew he was trying to hide. And all at once, Booth had said something that had caught her attention. He was saying how she unwittingly brings something out in him, something he can't control.

"I suppose he thinks it's _my_ fault we fight all the time." Tempe tilted her head back to let the water wash over her hair.

But no matter how many times she reviewed it in her mind, it always came out the same. After hearing Booth make what could only be construed as an inadvertent confession of sorts, Brennan had looked up to see him staring at her with his eyes smoldering with an intensity which had taken her breath away. He had never looked at her in that way before. In fact, _no_ man had ever looked at her in that way. It was strangely unnerving, and yet at the same time…erotic.

Once Booth had managed to rope her into agreeing to accompany him on his interview with Serafina Harris's Aunt Linda, he had said good-bye and left without another word. Once he was out the door, Tempe had decided that a nice hot shower was just what she needed to clear her mind. Only, it hadn't worked.

Brennan leaned against the shower wall letting the water surge over her body, willing it to wash away her doubts and uncertainty. A clap of thunder rattled the windows reverberating through her apartment, a reminder of the turbulent weather still threatening to drown the city. Sinking to the shower floor, Tempe watched the water circle the drain as the steam rose to swallow her.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

_Booth's place_

Booth finished towel drying his hair and tossed the towel over the back of a chair. He needed to clear his mind, and the only way he could think to do that at the moment was to do some pull-ups. He reached for the chin-up bar he had placed in the doorway of the bedroom and began a slow pace. After a few slow reps he picked up the tempo.

Why had he let it slip to Bones that she had an effect on him? Had it slipped? Or had he intentionally divulged that little secret on purpose? What had he expected her to do? Fall at his feet? THAT was NOT going to happen any time soon. Maybe he hadn't let it slip on purpose. Maybe he could chalk it up to his nerves or perhaps the lack of blood in his brain do to it all draining into another appendage of sorts. Whatever the case, it was said and done and there was no way to take it back. He'd have to deal with the outcome and judging by the look on Bones' face after his untimely slip-up, she was as astounded to hear the revelation spilling from the agent's lips as he was.

It was soon apparent the pull-ups were not effective in keeping his mind from wondering and Booth abandoned the steel bar and opted to switch to push-ups to clear his mind instead. 65 push-ups later, arms burning, Booth abandoned those as well.

"This just isn't working. I need a drink." Booth stepped to his closet to pick out a clean shirt before pulling it over his weary arms and buttoning it. As he turned to grab his pants, a bolt of lightning lit up the room followed closely by a crack of thunder loud enough to shake the floor beneath his feet. Glancing out the bedroom window Booth sighed. The rain hadn't subsided; in fact, it appeared to have gotten heavier in the last hour since he had left Bones' apartment. Rain pelted the glass as the trees bowed in the violent wind. "Guess I won't be going to Syd's for that drink after_ all_."

Undoing the shirt he had just put on, Booth threw it over the couch as he made his way to the kitchen. "Please let there be a beer in here," he prayed as he headed for the fridge. Yanking the door open he was relieved to spot a new six-pack towards the front he had forgotten about buying earlier. "_Thank_ you."

Grabbing a bottle Seeley pushed the fridge shut and twisted the cap off, tossing it towards the counter. The cap made a 'chink' sound as it hit and slid along the granite before coming to rest next to the sink. Tipping his head back, Booth took a long pull from the bottle as he strode to the couch and flopped down. He snatched up the remote and pressed the 'power' button hoping there might be something on the old 'boob-tube' that might succeed in taking his mind off of Bones…at least for the night. Flipping through the channels yielded nothing more than a few re-run sitcoms, an old Disney movie and about twenty infomercials all trying to convince him that THEIR products were just what he needed to get thin, build muscle, make tons of money and cure every disease known to man.

"This is going to be a long night." Booth groaned and hit the 'power' button clicking off the T.V. Taking another swig from the bottle in his hand, the FBI agent sat back against the couch cushions and let the sounds of the turbulent storm engulf him.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

_Bones' apartment_

Perched on the overstuffed chair, Bones watched the storm raging outside. Rain coursed down the windows making intricate water designs as it spilled over the glass. Lightning arched across the dark sky illuminating the night as if someone were flicking a light switch. The sudden gusts of wind turned tree limbs into bedeviled dancers straining against their captors.

She had tried reading a book she had checked out from the local library, but Brennan had found her mind wondering all too often. She had finally given up after reading the same paragraph for the twentieth time, tossing the novel onto the side table in frustration.

Why couldn't she get him out of her head? Closing her eyes Bones could still see Booth's intense stare as his eyes seared with what she could have sworn was something very similar to lust. Was she crazy? Booth could never…

_Ring._

"Aaghh!" Bones jumped in her chair, heart racing. Pressing a hand to her chest, she willed her pulse to return to normal.

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

Bones turned and looked at the kitchen microwave for the time. Nine-fifty. Who'd be calling at this hour?

_Ring._

Brennan glanced at the phone, silently telling whoever was on the other end of the line to go away and leave her to her thoughts. And as if they had heard her through telepathy, the phone sat silent. Bones knew it had only been the voicemail clicking in. No matter. If it were important, they'd leave a message.

She had more important things to do than answer the phone. Like brood over her inability to forget about Booth's eyes…and his uncanny ability to make her knees turn to Jell-O. Not to mention the way he seemed to make her pulse race when he looked at her for more than a millisecond.

Rain drummed in rhythm with the wind as the thunder echoed in her mind, but neither were loud enough to drown out the beating of the ach in her chest.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

_Booth's place_

Booth drained the bottle in his hand and tossed it onto the floor and watched it roll away. What was he doing?

Booth had been sitting on the couch, contemplating his last conversation with Bones, drinking beer for three hours. He had tried thinking about the case, work, and the storm still hovering outside….anything to get his mind off Bones. Nothing had worked.

Around hour two, he had given in and just let his mind wonder. It was with the third and final beer that Booth had come to a very alarming conclusion. He was falling for his own partner.

The shock had almost been too much for the man. How could it have happened? How is it that these feelings had snuck up and blindsided him?

But now, as he sat gazing out the rain-soaked window, Booth realized that he hadn't been blindsided at all. The signs were all there. They _had_ been there. He had just ignored them; pushed them down. Others had made comments. Everyone else saw right through his little façade.

He had to tell her. Maybe it was the beer, or the exhaustion, but Seeley knew he had to tell her. Soon. Or it might be too late.

_Too late? Too late for what?_ Booth sat up and shook his head.

The sound of his cell phone going off on the coffee table brought the agent back to reality. Snatching it up, Booth gazed at the caller I.D. He didn't recognize the number.

Flipping it open, he brought the phone to his ear. "Yeah?"

"Booth! Is Brennan with you?" A shrill voice demanded.

"Angela? How did you get my cell number?" Booth frowned.

"I got it from Brennen a while back. In case I needed to get a hold of you. Is she there with you or not?"

"Okay, calm down. Why would Bones be with me?" Booth glanced at the clock on the DVD player. 1:37am.

"I've been trying to call her all night. I wanted to make sure she was okay after the fight you two had earlier. I knew you were going to try talking to her, but when I never heard from her, I got worried. She's not answering her phone and her cell is turned off."

Booth's stomach did a flip-flop.

"Alright, Ang. Just stay calm. I was over there a few hours ago and she was fine…" A little wet, but otherwise…Booth added for his own benefit.

"What did you say to her? It's not like her not to answer…"

A sudden crack of thunder swallowed the rest of Angela's sentence and Booth glanced out the window to see the rain streaking across the glass.

"Angela, it's all right. The storm probably just knocked out the phone lines or something." Booth ran his hand through his hair trying to stay calm himself.

"Booth, could you just go check on her?" Angela pleaded. "I'd go myself, but the storm…" She trailed off.

Seeley thought about pointing out that Angela was the one panicking over what was surely nothing, and therefore should be the one to brave the raging elements..but instead, the FBI agent found himself agreeing to check up on his partner.

"Yeah...I'll go over there and give her hell for not picking up her phone when you call." Booth laughed, trying to keep the tension from his voice. He didn't want to give away the fact that he was now starting to wonder if it was indeed the storm keeping Bones from answering the phone or something else.

_A/N: OK, so I know it's been like…2 years since I've updated this story. Please forgive me and I thank those of you who have stuck around to push me to get more done. I could explain the reason for no updates in much detail, but I'll just say I was almost killed in an car accident and it has taken me a long time to get back to where I am today. I'm not looking for sympathy, just letting you know why you haven't seen me in a while. I had forgotten all about this story till __Wendy__ emailed me the other day. So a BIG THANKS to you WENDY for giving me the little push I needed. Hope this __chapter__ is ok. I haven't lost my mojo, have I?? As always, cookies, flames ect. All welcome and until next chapter kiddies!! (Promise it won't be 2 years for the next chap.)_


End file.
